Climate Change Affecting Bees

In “Why Bees Are Disappearing,” Marla Spivak, an American entomologist, sheds light on the importance of bees in the pollination process as well as the decline in bee population. Spivak claims that “bees are the most important pollinators” because over one third of crop production across the world depends on bee pollination. However, bee populations have decreased since the end of World War II due to “multiple, interacting causes of death.” These causes are monocultures, pesticides, diseases, and flowerless landscapes, and they all pose a threat to plant diversity and food production. In order to prevent significant consequences and reverse impacts already made, Spivak encourages the audience to plant bee-friendly flowers without pesticide contamination so that bees, and therefore people, have access to better nutrition.

The honey bee is vital to an estimated $117 billion annual production of crops through pollination within the United States more than a half of the food that humans consume has a correlation with the bee either directly or indirectly. The USDA reports the following food products would be immediately damaged if no bees were available to pollinate:

Furthermore bees specifically are particularly efficient with it being estimated that they are the sole pollinators for 50% of the approximate 80% of flowering plants which rely on insects for pollination (Bradbear, 2009). Their efficiency is further illustrated by the fact that a single colony containing 25,000 forager bees is able to pollinate 250 million flowers per day (Bradbear, 2009). As a result of this it can be seen that bees are hugely important as pollinators with many species of flower being completely dependent on them. Furthermore, the importance of bees extends beyond ecological diversity; certain types of bees are hugely important economically. In addition to pollinating a large variety of fruit and vegetables, bees produce Honey; together this results in them having an estimated value of service of £200m a year in the UK (National Audit Office (NAO), 2009). Overall it can be seen that bees are of significant importance that any decrease in population should be treated with concern, as a result of this a large quantity of research has been conducted into identifying possible

Since the late 1990s, beekeepers around the world have observed the mysterious and sudden disappearance of bees, and report unusually high rates of decline in honeybee colonies. Bees do more than just make honey! Bee transfer pollen and seeds from one flower to another, fertilizing the plant so it can grow and produce food. Cross-pollination helps at least 30 percent of the world's crops and 90% affects our food. The sweet fruits humans eat such as, strawberries, mangoes, grapes, apples, and bananas would not be the same taste wise as they are now. We simply couldn’t live in the same world if it weren’t for the bees.

What you may not know is that honeybees play a huge roll in America’s agriculture, whether it is pollinating alfalfa hay to feed your horse or pollinating that apple you eat every morning for breakfast. Honeybees pollinate about one-third of crops species in the U.S. (Vanishing Bees, 2008). Bees pollinate a lot more than you would think a few more examples are almonds, avocadoes, cucumbers and peanuts.

Bees are the reason we have jelly, fruit, nuts, coffee and so many other vegetation (Lecture 09/27). Without these creatures we would lose so much more of our biodiversity, which is already suffering from other anthropogenic actions. Our society has a habit of finding the most cost efficient methods to produce goods that please the consumers without considering all the consequences of these actions. More importantly, we do not recognize the harm that we have caused until the damage is outrageous and requires a solution. But, this problem cannot follow those footsteps because it is essential for our ecosystem to thrive. These solution would not only save millions of dollars by being proactive, but would allow us to sustain food sources, biodiversity, and the survival of

The economic worth of global food production supported by animal pollination is at a whopping $265 billion dollars. Bee’s themselves are responsible for the harvest of crops such as nuts, melons and berries, and plays varying roles in the production of citrus fruits, apples, onions, broccoli, cabbage, sprouts, courgettes, peppers, aubergines, avocados, cucumbers, coconuts, tomatoes and broad beans, as well as coffee and cocoa. ( Yes, that’s right without bee’s you wouldn’t be able to relax to/enjoy the sweet taste of, of a hot cup of chocolate after a long winter day). but with bee’s in consistent decline what does this mean for a growing population. Fewer bee’s would mean most likely result in higher prices for fruits, and vegetables. Less food available for mass consumption. So what can we do? In order to reverse the damage done to our bee populations, it is important that we now as a community make steps to encourage ecologically safe farming practices. That means start grocery shopping regionally, and locally and when the holiday/winter season is over and spring rolls around reduce the everyday use of pesticides, and other stuff while

Bees pollinating crops produce every third mouthful of food we eat. Bees contribute to thirty- five Percent of global food production, 87 of the leading 115 food crops are dependent on animal pollinators, including bees. (The United States White House, 2014). Without bees pollinating plants, there would not be very many fruits or vegetables to eat, Bees transfer pollen between the male and female parts, allowing plants to grow seeds and fruit. In the last decade scientist and beekeepers have observed remarkable decline of bees, in the US alone 30% of the national bee population has disappeared and nearly a third of all bee colonies in the U.S. have

In a statistical study done it was found; “The economic value of U.S. crops that benefit from honeybee pollination has been estimated at $15 billion annually. In 2006 the California almond export crop alone was valued at $1.9 billion and required more than one million bee colonies for pollination”. (Dainat) With keeping the fact that plants that need honeybees into in mind, the impact of honeybees in modern agriculture is significantly large as many places around the world rely on beekeepers for honey, as well as pollination services (Dainat). A main statement often brought up regarding CCD is Einstein’s assumption about the human race eradicating shortly after the bees. A lot of what humans eat consist of many items that are only produced due to pollination. A Canadian committee regarding agriculture stated; “Approximately a third of the human diet comes directly or indirectly from insect-pollinated plants, with the annual value of bee pollination in Canada an estimated $2 billion. The majority of flowering plants require pollination to reproduce, and bees are responsible for about 70 per cent of that pollination.” In regards to the whole world, it is estimated from the same study that the bees contribution to food production worldwide stands at about two hundred billion. (“Save the bees, save

While society has impacted this alteration, climate change has also made a significant imprint. This study “assesses the extinction risks to species within an important genus of pollinating bees by estimating the expected changes in the area and isolation of suitable habitat under predicted climatic condition for 2050.” (Roberts, S. P., Potts, S. G., Biesmeijer, K., Kuhlmann, M., Kunin, B., & Ohlemüller, R., 2011) Climate change has caused bees to migrate from their native environments. The loss of these bees have begun to effect various types of plants, some of which are beginning to perish. Therefore scientist are in pursuit of a suitable habitat. One in which expresses the origin of edible plants, as well as climatic suitability. (Roberts, S. P., Potts, S. G., Biesmeijer, K., Kuhlmann, M., Kunin, B., & Ohlemüller, R.,

Bee populations are declining at an alarming rate all around the world, and daily life without bees would be detrimental. Without the bees around to help pollinate our food, 30 percent of which is grown using bees, there is an incredibly high chance that we would starve. “Mankind will not survive the honeybees’ disappearance for more than five years.” (Albert Einstein) By using harmful pesticides in our agriculture, and the excessive use of high fructose corn syrup, we are killing the bees at an alarming rate. One of every three bites of food rely on pollination for a profitable harvest. We must acknowledge everything that the bees provide for humans, then ban pesticides that hard bees, move away from industrial agriculture and put our focus

In centuries, the honey bee has a very important role in our agriculture. According to Watanabe, Honey bee approximately benefits $10 billion of crops, including almonds, apples, and alfalfa every year in the United State (Pollination Worries rise As Honey Bees Decline, 1170). In addition, The National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) had estimated 2660 million honey producing colonies in 2015 (2017). Based on honey bees’ behavior, they can expand nearly all habitable corners of the globe which made them highly adaptable species (Dennis, 80). With adaptable capability and high productivity, our beekeepers can able to maintain their life

Honeybees play a significant role in helping pollinate many different crops and flowers. As honeybees gather pollen and nectar for their survival, they pollinate crops of fruits and vegetables. “Some crops, including blueberries and cherries, are 90-percent dependent on honey bee pollination; one crop, almonds, depends entirely on the honey bee for pollination at bloom time” (KAUFFELD). According to facts listed by the Almond Board of California, “one-third of global food production volume relies on pollinators, to some degree” (@almonds, Bee).

The United Nations reports that approximately 70% of the world’s crops, valued at close to $US200 billion, are dependent on bee

Honey bees, feared by the misinformed and admired by the intelligent, are dying. The interest in bees from many environmentalists is not for a sudden cause, as this issue is not new to the world. Honey bees as a population have been in decline for years but have yet to reach the endangered species list anywhere in the United States except for Hawaii. Many people kill bees that buzz around joyfully, simply because they are afraid of being stung by them; however, a vast majority of bees do not sting and the others do not care. This unfortunate commonality is not even one of the top causes of the worldwide epidemic of honey bees. Although bees are jokingly idolized on the internet in pictures and videos as a result of a popular children’s movie, their population decline is in fact quite serious. Honey bees and other pollinators like birds and insects ensure the pollination of flowering plants and crops all around the globe. Not only do honey bees pollinate plants that produce the foods that humans eat, but they also pollinate trees that produce clean oxygen for Earth. Without honey bees, the world as we know it could soon end, due to carbon dioxide pollution and lack of farmable foods. The population of honeybees and other important pollinator-bee species is dwindling due to a dilemma known to scientists as colony collapse disorder (CCD) because of the use of bee-killing pesticides, known as neonicotinoids, the decrease of flower meadows in the world, and the general increase